A BIG-HEARTED Kelty schoolboy is doing his bit to raise awareness of epilepsy and raise enough cash to help fellow sufferers.

Young Sam Shaw, 12, is hoping to collect enough money to buy a 'Sleep-Easy' anti-suffocation pillow for every young Fifer who has been diagnosed with the condition.

The Kelty Primary School pupil had his first seizure around two years ago and, with the help of twin brother Jack, has already been educating his classmates about what it's like to live with the illness.

"People in my school didn’t really understand what epilepsy was," he said. "When I was having absences or focal seizures, they thought I was staring at them or following them, which upset me.

"I spoke to my mum and dad and told them that I wanted to explain to my friends what was happening, so me and my twin brother Jack did a presentation to all of our classmates."

Proud mum Jackie, of Blairadam Crescent, has been inspired by the way Sam is so keen to help others.

"We had spoken about getting him a pillow and he said, why can't we not get them for everyone?" she said. "We did some fundraising at my work at Sky and we got 30 pillows delivered.

"We are starting to hand the pillows out and we hope that by doing that, we can encourage other fundraising so, as a community, we can start getting more.

"Although it isn't a guarantee, as nothing is, these pillows can save lives. They are like a memory foam and they have holes in them so they can't suffocate if they have a seizure and are face down. Parents have enough to worry about so this gives a little peace of mind."

Having a son with epilepsy has proved stressful, however, Jackie and husband Niall, who also have a younger son, Robbie, have been inspired by the way Sam has coped.

"Epilepsy has always been part of our lives, through my husband having seizures, but his epilepsy is well controlled and so it wasn’t something we really knew too much about," she said.

"When Sam had his first seizure, I was really worried, especially as it took him more than four hours to come out of it. We were worried that he might have suffered brain damage. His seizure came without any warning – no ill health beforehand, just a normal midweek evening.

“Although there don’t seem to be any serious effects, he has had difficulty adjusting to the condition and has suffered bullying at school because of it, which makes it so much worse for him. We were so proud when Sam and Jack did the presentation at school – I was almost in tears watching them be so brave at such a young age. It inspired me to want to help Sam and other children and families in a similar situation.”

Families in Fife affected by a young epilepsy sufferer can apply for one of the pillows by asking their NHS Fife Paediatric Epilepsy Specialist Nurse for a referral application form.